Archive-name: hongkong-faq/part4ăLast-modified: Tue Mar 16 10:13:29 EST 1993ăVersion: 2.1ăăăă O F F I C I A L ăă FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ) ăă FOR ăă SOC.CULTURE.HONGKONGăăă PART IV - HONG KONG PICTURES ARCHIVE (HKPA)ăăăIf you have any questions regarding addition/deletion/modificationăto this FAQă please contact Thomas Wong at "twong@civil.ubc.ca".ăYour comments will be appreciated.ăă--------------------------------------------------------------------------------ăăHONG KONG PICTURES ARCHIVE (HKPA)ă=================================ăFREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS edition 1.20ă=======================================ăăOriginally written by Alan Yim (HO OAI) , Sept 1992.ăMaintained by Thomas Wong now to whenever.... 8)ăăTABLE OF CONTENTS:ăă3000) TOPICS: INTRODUCTION TO HKPAă3001) What is HKPA and where is it?ă3002) What is GIF files?ă3003) What picture format is being used in HKPA?ă3004) Are there any picture formats other than GIF?ă3005) What is the history of HKPA?ă3006) What picture categories are available in HKPA?ă3007) Are there any other ftp sites (mirror sites) for HKPA?ă3008) What is the structure of HKPA?ă3009) What is a subdivided archive (or sub-archive)?ă3010) Where should I make a request for particular picture(s)?ă3011) Where can I read the news on HKPA matters?ă3012-3019) RESERVEDăă3020) TOPICS: QUICK GUIDE ON GETTING, VIEWING, & PRINTING PICTURESă3021) How do I get pictures from HKPA?ă3022) How do I get pictures from Usenet newsgroups?ă3023) How do I view pictures on Unix X-Windows?ă3024) How do I view pictures on IBM PC compatibles (MSDOS)?ă3025) How do I print pictures on a postscript printer under Unix?ă3026-3049) RESERVEDăă3050) TOPICS: GENERAL GUIDE ON DONATING PICTURES/OTHER CONTRIBUTIONSă3051) How do I post a picture to the newsgroups?ă3052) Are there any easier ways of donating pictures?ă3053) Can I send pictures to HKPA ftp sites myself?ă3054) How do I maximize the quality of a picture from a scanner?ă3055) What kind of pictures does HKPA wanted?ă3056) What other picture formats does HKPA accept?ă3057) Can I & how do I organize a new subdivided archive HKPA.***?ă3058) What else can I contribute?ă3059-3069) RESERVEDăă3070) TOPICS: MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONSă3071) Where else can I find a copy of this FAQ?ă3072) What should I know when I access the ftp sites by IP number?ă3073-3139) RESERVEDăă3140) TOPICS: SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGMENTă3141) Who are our big brothers?ă3142) Who are the crew members of HKPA?ă3143-3149) RESERVEDăă3150) TOPICS: HKPA.MISC SPECIFIC INFORMATIONă3151) What kind of pictures are in HKPA.MISC and are wanted?ă3152) How do I donate pictures to HKPA.MISC?ă3153) Can I upload pictures to ftp site myself for HKPA.MISC?ă3154) Are there any other rules I need to know for donations?ă3155-3199) RESERVEDăă3200) TOPICS: HKPA.POPSTARS SPECIFIC INFORMATIONă3201) What kind of pictures are in HKPA.POPSTARS and are wanted?ă3202) How do I donate pictures to HKPA.POPSTARS?ă3203) What is the file naming convention for HKPA.POPSTARS?ă3204) What if I don't know the name of the popstar but want to donate?ă3205) Can I upload pictures to ftp sites myself for HKPA.POPSTARS?ă3206) Are there any other rules I need to know for donations?ă3207-3249) RESERVEDăă3250) TOPICS: HKPA.SCENIC SPECIFIC INFORMATIONă3251) What kind of pictures are in HKPA.SCENIC and are wanted?ă3252) How do I donate pictures to HKPA.SCENIC?ă3253) What is the file naming convention for HKPA.SCENIC?ă3254) Can I upload pictures to ftp site myself for HKPA.SCENIC?ă3255) Are there any other rules I need to know for donations?ă3256-3999) RESERVEDăăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3000) TOPICS: INTRODUCTION TO HKPAă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3001) What is HKPA and where is it?ăăWelcome to Hong Kong Pictures Archive (HKPA), the first ever collectionăof Hong Kong related pictures on Internet. HKPA is located ată/pub/hongkong/hkpa directory of ftp site: asia.lcs.mit.edu [18.52.0.62].ăăThere are already many ftp sites around the world which keep an archiveă(a collection/storage) of GIF images. However, images which related toăHK are still kept privately these days. The generation of HKPA is toăopen a way to exhibit the HK culture around the world.ăăPeople are free to obtain picture files from the site and are encouragedăto contribute pictures which are related to Hong Kong.ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3002) WHAT is GIF files?ăăGIF stands for Graphics Interchange Format. It is a data representationăof a graphics image in binary form. GIF files can be put on the background ăof your workstations or PC's or viewed in a separate window. It records upăto 256 colors, and it offers a very good data compression without losingăthe picture quality when viewing.ăăIn order to view GIF picture files, one must have a picture viewer softwareăwhich supports GIF format.ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3003) What picture format is being used in HKPA?ăăAs GIF is so popular which offers a very good reproduction quality and dataăcompression, it is being used for storing pictures in HKPA.ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3004) Are there any picture formats other than GIF? ăăThere are lots of other picture formats apart from GIF. Just to name a few:ăBMP, TIF, TGA, JPG, PCX, and XPM. Their characteristics are mainly differedăby the following:ăă- Number of colours supported (GIF supports 256 (8-bit) colors)ă- Performance on data compression (some formats have no compression whichă always end up a very large picture file)ă- Performance when viewing (does the format require complex viewers thată slow down the display process?)ă- The extent of software support (from merely viewers to image processorsă and desktop publishers)ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3005) What is the history of HKPA?ăăAt the very beginning (Nov 1991) the idea was only on the collection ofăHK popstar pictures, which was known as the HK Popstar GIF CollectionăScheme (HKPGCS). Later on, an idea of HK scenic GIF collection came up.ăAs there are quite a lot of potential on adding more picture categoriesăin the future, we decided to re-structure the 2 collections into one bigăarchive called HKPA.ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3006) What picture categories are available in HKPA?ăăThe structure of HKPA is as follows:ăăHKPA ------- HKPA.MISC ----- HKmisc.indexă | |--- README.DONORSă | |--- ă | |--- <*.gif pictures available>ă |ă |--- HKPA.POPSTARS ----- HKstar.indexă | |-- README.DONORSă | |-- GUESSING.GAMEă | |-- ă | |-- <*.gif pictures available>ă | |-- guess --- ă |ă |--- HKPA.SCENIC ----- HKscenic.indexă | |-- README.DONORSă | |-- ă | |-- <*.gif pictures available>ă |ă |--- HKPA.ă : ................ă |--- HKPA.ăăSo there are 2 categories currently under HKPA:ăăHong Kong Pictures Archive - Popstar Collection (HKPA.POPSTARS)ă- in ftp directory /pub/hongkong/hkpa/popstarsăăHong Kong Pictures Archive - Scenic Collection (HKPA.SCENIC)ă- in ftp directory /pub/hongkong/hkpa/scenicăăIn addition, there is a generic archive calledăHong Kong Pictures Archive - Miscellaneous Collection (HKPA.MISC)ăwhich accepts pictures of other un-specified categories.ăăHKPA.***** is called a subdivided archive.ăăInside each subdivided archive, there are few special text files ofăinformations. The common ones are the following:ăăHK****.index List of pictures available in a subdivided archiveăREADME.DONORS Rules and how to contribute pictures for a particulară subdivided archive.ăăThere are other information files for each subdivided archive. Pleaseăread the topics for each subdivided archive for updated information.ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3007) Are there any other ftp sites (mirror sites) for HKPA?ăăUnfortunately, we don't have any mirror sites which contain the fullăduplication of HKPA file base. However, there is one for HKPA.POPSTARSăthough. The location is:ăăftp site: nic.funet.fi [128.214.6.100]ădirectory: /pub/pics/gif/pics/tv+film/HKstarăăThis site is situated in Finland. Users in Europe are encouraged to obtain ăpictures from nic.funet.fi, in order to reduce the net traffic in ăasia.lcs.mit.edu.ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3008) What is the structure of HKPA?ăăPlease refer to question 3006.ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3009) What is a subdivided archive (or sub-archive)?ăăThose collection of a particular picture category under HKPA is called aăsubdivided archive (or sub-archive). They are assigned the name HKPA.*****ăPlease refer to question 3006 for details.ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3010) Where should I make a request for particular picture(s)? ăăAs the picture contributors of HKPA probably read soc.culture.hongkong,ăplease post your requests to soc.culture.hongkong newsgroup for bestăchance of feedbacks. If posting news is not allowed in your site, you canăthen consider asking the person-in-charge of a particular sub-dividedăarchive, to which your request is related, to post it for you.ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3011) Where can I read the news on HKPA matters?ăăAll news on HKPA including news on new pictures available are posted toăsoc.culture.hongkong. New pictures are also posted to alt.binaries.picturesăand alt.binaries.pictures.misc, in multi part uuencoded form.ăăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3020) TOPICS: QUICK GUIDE ON GETTING, VIEWING, & PRINTING PICTURESă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3021) How do I get pictures from HKPA?ăăThere are 2 ways:ăăi) By using the command 'ftp' in an Unix/VMS(VAX) account:ăăYou can login to asia.lcs.mit.edu by ftp & get files as follows:ă(Note that U means Unix ftp & V means VMS ftp, no letters specified in stepă number means it applies to both ftp versions.)ăăStep 1) Unix/Vax prompt> ftp asia.lcs.mit.eduă [a bunch of text]ă 2U) Name (asia.lcs.mit.edu:your login): ftpă 2V) ASIA.LCS.MIT.EDU> login ftpă 3) Password: your login@hostnameă [a bunch of text]ă 4) ftp> binary /* set binary mode, use this modeă unless you obtain text files */ă 5) ftp> cd pub/hongkong/hkpaă 6) ftp> cd popstars /* goto HKPA.POPSTARS archive */ă ORă ftp> cd scenic /* goto HKPA.SCENIC archive */ă ORă ftp> cd misc /* goto HKPA.MISC archive */ă 7) ftp> dir /* list of archive directory */ă 8) ftp> get /* get file which is saved intoă the local working directory */ă 9) ftp> bye /* logout the ftp session */ăă You may use the command '? [command name]' or 'help [command name]' foră the online help screen during a ftp session.ăăii) By using ftp mail server, ONLY if you don't have access to 'ftp' in youră account. You are required to send a request mail, which contains a set ofă commands, to the mail server. Those commands include the functions like-ă a) Which ftp site you want to connect to; b) The directory where theă requesting file is in; c) What the file type is; d) What file you want toă get; e) What kind of encoding scheme you want to encode the file beforeă sending back to you; and f) whether you want the encoded file to beă splitted and the size of each piece.ăă Then the mail server will ftp to the site specified in a), go to theă directory specified in b), set to binary/ascii mode according to c),ă get the file you want as specified in d). Then the server will send ită back to you by mail in uuencoded or other format (if applicable)ă according to e). We recommend the use of uuencode mode for e). If youă specify in a command that you want the file to be splitted, it willă mail the file piece by piece, with each piece of size specified in f)ă bytes. We recommend the split mode as some mail system cannot handleă large mails.ăă There are only a few ftp mail servers available so far. Here are theă ones I got.ăă 1) ftpmail@decwrl.dec.comă 2) ftpmail@cs.uow.edu.auăă You can obtain a help mail from those servers by sending a mail to theă above address, with nothing in Subject: line. Then type 'help' on theă first line follow by 'quit' on the second line of the mail body.ăă Below is an example request mail to get files from asia.lcs.mit.edu.ă It applies to the mail server 1). Subject line of the request mailă can be any.ăă <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>ă connect asia.lcs.mit.eduă chdir /pub/hongkong/hkpa/popstarsă binaryă uuencodeă get ă quită <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>ăăPlease also get and read the information text files in the archive.ăPlease get the file HK****.index from a particular subdivided archiveăfor a list of brief description of the pictures. You don't need to setăuuencode mode for the text files. Only binary files are necessary.ăăAfter sending the request mail, you may need to wait for about half toăa day for the files. After receiving the files in mail, you need toăuudecode those mails to recreate the original binary files, if they areăsent uuencoded. To uudecode a file, type 'uudecode ' at Unixăprompt. If you are a VMS(VAX) user, please read question 3022 part iv onăhow to uudecode a received file.ăăIf you want a binary file to be splitted, you have to append the mailsăinto one file before uudecode.ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3022) How do I get pictures from USENET newsgroups?ăăNew incoming pictures are also posted to the Usenet newsgroups:ăalt.binaries.pictures, alt.binaries.pictures.miscăăThe pictures are uuencoded and posted in a number of articles (parts).ăOne must save and append them together in the order of part number.ăRemove the "-----Cut Here-----" lines and uudecode the appended file.ăăi) For those running 'rn' or 'trn' in Unix:ă - g ă goto the newsgroup you wantă - ... use your favorite method of jumping to the message withă part #1 of the GIF file you wantă - w file1ă save as a file with the part no (ie. 1) attached to filename.ă - ... repeat the above two procedures to save all the parts toă different files by jumping to part 2, save with filenameă with 2 attached, then part 3,.... and so on until done.ă - another way is to save it all in one shot with (in rn)ă //w filename.ă - ... remove all lines above and including the "-----Cut Here-----"ă line near the start of the file.ă - ... remove all lines below and including the "-----Cut Here-----"ă line near the end of the file.ă - append all the files into one file IN ORDER of part number.ă - uudecode ă being the big file containing all the parts ină order. This will recreate the GIF file.ăăii) For those using rn and have the uuconc program:ă - list all the Subjects with the "=" commandă - write the postings in order to one file in append modeă (ie. {msg# of part1},...,{msg# of last part} w {filename})ă - when it asks if you want full pathname, type "n"ă - feed this file through uunconc (ie. "uunconc filename")ă and there you have it.ăăiii) For those using 'nn' in Unix:ă - G ă goto the desired newsgroup, in this case alt.binaries.pictures...ă - press 'a' to list all the articles or 'j' to list only the unreadă articles.ă - select the parts which construct a picture you want.ă - press 'W' to save the selected parts. When the prompt "save on"ă appears, you can edit the path of the file to be written on.ă The parts will be saved and appended in the order from theă uppermost selection to the bottom-most.ă - remove the "-----Cut Here-----" lines and the text in-betweenă manually by an editor.ă - uudecode ă decode the file back to binary GIF file.ăăiv) For those using 'news' in VMS(VAX):ă - NEWS> select ă goto the desired newsgroup, in this case alt.binaries.pictures...ă - find out the news parts which construct a picture you want.ă - NEWS> extract -ă e.g.: extract iwan02.uu 5120-5124ă Where iwan02.uu is the file for the parts to be saved. The newsă of items number 5120 to 5124 are saved in order and appended.ă - remove the "-----Cut Here-----" lines and the text in-betweenă manually by a text editor.ă - transfer the saved file back to the local machine where a vieweră software is available. (In most cases, such a machine is a PC).ă You can transfer it by using the command 'kermit' in VMS.ă Remember you must set the following in VMS kermit prior to theă transfer:ă kermit-VMS> set block 3 /* use CRC error check */ă kermit-VMS> set file type binary /* binary file transfer mode */ă kermit-VMS> send /* then start the transfer */ă /* then use 'receive' command/function on the PC kermit program */ă You must also set the kermit program in PC (the local machine)ă to the above modes. It depends on what kermit program you use.ă The one which has a set of similar commands to VMS kermit isă called MS-kermit for PC. It is available in most popular ftpă sites. In addition, Telix, Telemate & Procomm also support kermit.ă - uudecode the transferred file in the local machine back to binaryă GIF file. Then you can view it in the local machine.ă uudecode program and similar variants can be obtained from mostă popular ftp sites. There is one for PC in ftp site: ahkcus.orgă [192.55.187.25]. The file is uuduue20.exe in directory /src/pc.ă If you don't have access to ftp, you can use ftp mail server (seeă question 3021 part ii). In this case you need to obtain the fileă uudecode.bas instead. It is a source code written in BASIC. Youă need to run it on qbasic which comes with MSDOS 5.0 at the veryă first time. It then creates 2 executable files: uuencode.com &ă uudecode.com. Then you can type "uudecode" at the MSDOS prompt.ă Type the name of the transferred file. It'll then decode the file.ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3023) How do I view pictures on UNIX X-Windows?ăăFor more complete information, you are referred to comp.graphics groupăand its FAQ. As far as I know, news on new viewer and image processorăsoftware can also be read in newsgroups such as alt.graphics.pixutils andăalt.binaries.pictures.utilities.ăăI'd strongly suggest the viewer software 'xv'. Read its manual byă'man xv' for operating instructions. If you don't have access to it,ăyou have to obtain its source code (src) file from ftp sites andăcompile it using the command 'make' in usual cases. (Please also read **)ăExample viewer software which support GIF are as follows:ăăi) xloadimage, xsetbg, xview -ă Works on b&w or color displays, see the manual pages to viewă the GIF file as a window or to set the image on theă background, it should be available on most sites, otherwise,ă src is obtainable via anonymous ftp, export.lcs.mit.eduă [18.24.0.12], /contrib/xloadimage.3.01.tar.Z). ăăii) xv - src ină foo.{x,y}.ext means there are 2 files called, foo.x.ext andă foo.y.ext. The newer version (2.11 up) takes both JPEG and TIFFă formats as well. The sites and full pathnames are---ă - export.lcs.mit.edu, /contrib/xv-2.{11,21}.tar.Ză - nic.funet.fi [128.214.6.100],ă /pub/X11/contrib/xv-2.{20,11}.tar.Z)ă - ftp.cis.upenn.edu [130.91.6.8], /pub/xv-2.{11,21}.tar.Zăă** Note on how to obtain and compile source code files such as *.tar.Z:ăă - You can recover the files by working from right to left toă resolve the suffices using the following rules, an exampleă will follow.ă - .Z - Get the src file from ftp site the same way as gettingă picture files. When you are in the shell, use uncompress(1)ă to restore the .Z compressed files (read compress(1) man pageă as well).ă - .tar - In the shell, type "tar xvf foo.tar" to extract theă files, the details can be found in the man page for tar(1).ă - example - Assuming the file xv2r1.tar.Z is now residing ină the current directory, the steps to be taken are -ă a) uncompress xv2r1.tar.Ză You will then get xv2r1.tar at the end after a).ă b) tar xvf xv2r1.tară The source file and subdirectories will be formed, you cană then change its Makefile (see make(1)) to do the compilation.ă - If you don't know C and/or makefiles, you better findă someone at where you're at so that they can help you becauseă you'll need expereince before you can reconfigure theă Makefile and know how to answer the questions for youră system. ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3024) How do I view pictures on IBM PC compatibles (MSDOS)?ăăNews on new viewer and image processor software can be read in newsgroupsăsuch as alt.graphics.pixutils, alt.binaries.pictures.utilities andăcomp.binaries.ibm.pc.archives.ăăI'd suggest the following software: Paint Shop Pro (PSPRO101.ZIP) orălatest versions for Windows 3.x. Make sure your Windows 3.x is installedăa SVGA video driver. So that it can display at least 256 colors.ăăThere are many programs available and some of them enable you to printăthe pictures. The binaries can be obtained at the following ftp site: ă- wuarchive.wustl.edu [128.252.235.4], /mirrors/msdos/gif for MSDOSă software; /mirrors/msdos/windows3 for Windows 3.x software. The indexă is "00-index.txt", get that file and then choose what you want.ăăGet the *.ZIP file like getting picture files. i.e.: use binary mode.ăăThen you've to transfer the ZIP file back to the PC before you can run it.ăThe safest transfer protocol program is Kermit. It is usually available inăUnix/VMS(VAX). Please read question 3022 part iv on how to transfer a fileăusing Kermit. (VMS Kermit works the same as the Unix one.)ăăLikewise, you need to transfer the picture files from your account back toăthe PC before you can view them.ăăIf you've an Unix account, you may try Zmodem instead of Kermit. The commandăis 'sz'. It works faster, but it is more sensitive on your local networkăsetup. Please consult your local experts on file transfer problems, as suchăproblems may be related to the network setup. You must set your modem toă8 data bits, no parity communications in order to use Zmodem.ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3025) How do I print pictures on a Postscript printer under UNIX?ăăOne way is to use 'xwd' and 'xpr' to print the images to a postscriptăprinter (I am sure there are some better ways). Read the man pages ofăthose commands for operating instructions.ăăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3050) TOPICS: GENERAL GUIDE OF DONATING PICTURES/OTHER CONTRIBUTIONSă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3051) How do I post a picture to the newsgroups?ăăOf course you are free to post any pictures you want. However, if youăwant to contribute your posted pictures for a particular subdividedăarchive of HKPA, you must notify the person-in-charge of that archive,ăthe availability of your pictures. Please read the topic specific forăthe subdivided archive you are concerning with, for the address ofăthe appropriate person-in-charge you have to contact, as well as theăcontribution rules of the archive concerns.ăă** The person-in-charge of some subdivided archive doesn't recommendă this way of submitting pictures. Please check that.ăăYour contributions must be posted to the following newsgroups:ăăalt.binaries.pictures, alt.binaries.pictures.miscăă-PROCEDURE OF POSTING A GIF TO PICTURES NEWSGROUPS:ă - uuencode the GIF file first.ă - split the uuencoded file into parts less than 1000 lines. ă This can be done using the Unix "split" program.ă - add the lines:ă "BEGIN--------------------Cut Here--------------------"ă at the beginning and the lineă "END----------------------Cut Here--------------------"ă at the end of each split file.ă - crosspost each part to "alt.binaries.pictures" ANDă "alt.binaries.pictures.misc". This can be done by typing ină "alt.binaries.pictures,alt.binaries.pictures.misc" when askedă for the name of the newsgroup to post to.ă - when posting, be sure to include "(chinese: HKPA.***)" in theă Subject: line to identify this posting as a part of our HKPA GIFsă - and include the filename and part number of current part beingă posted. ( eg. Subject: file.gif (chinese: HKPA.***) [part 1/3] )ă - post a part number 0 first (eg. [part 0/3]) which has a shortă description of the content of the picture, for example:ăă filename : vchow02.gifă description: Full portrait of Vivian Chow (Chow Wai Man),ă a Hong Kong pop singeră category : female Hong Kong popstară image : 583x1052x256ă filesize : 309424 bytesăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3052) Are there any easier ways of donating pictures?ăăYes, but I can't say whether all the person-in-charge of their archivesăoffer some other alternative ways of submission. Please refer to theătopic specific for the subdivided archive you are concerning with forămore details.ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3053) Can I send pictures to HKPA ftp sites myself?ăăStrictly NO for nic.funet.fi, the mirror site for HKPA.POPSTARS.ăGenerally NO for asia.lcs.mit.edu for most archives.ăăHowever, we don't recommend this way of submitting pictures. The person-ăin-charge of each archive will take care of your contributions in termsăof public announcement of availability, and putting the pictures to ftpăsites for you. In addition, the person-in-charge will post your picturesăto newsgroups for you as well, if that archive offers such service. Againăplease read the topic specific for that particular archive for more info.ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3054) How do I maximize the quality of a picture from a scanner?ăăThis is not an easy question. It depends on what scanner softwareăyou have. If you have a color scanner which offers 256 (8-bit) colorsăor less, don't expect too much from it.ăăIf your color scanner offers more than 8-bit colors, but the pictureădoesn't look "smooth" or looks grainy, the problem may be in one/moreăof the following: ăăi) The scanner software. How it records the information from theă scanner. If the software can save in 16 million color (24-bit)ă picture format such as TIFF, TGA, BMP, the problem may be ină the next items. If the software can only save in 8-bit coloră format, don't worry. Read the next items first!!ăăii) The paper quality. You won't get good quality scan from picturesă on un-smooth glossy paper. Also, it is no good too when you scană small pictures on thin magazine paper (such as the paper usedă in the large "nosey megazines"). Matte paper is the best.ăăiii) The quality of publishings. All pictures you see in every kindsă of publishings are dithered (i.e.: consists of tiny dots/pixels.ă Look at a picture closely and you'll see). Depends on the dotă pattern and size, you may see the "wrinkles" on the scannedă picture. The quality can be improved by turning the source by aă small angle and rescan it. Also, use lower resolution (200 DPIă or less) with large picture source may help. Photographs don'tă have such problem anyway.ăăIf the scanned image is a bit out of focus, you can apply sharpness orăedge enhancement filter in your image processor to improve the focus.ăHowever, it also emphasizes the "wrinkles" if scanned from publishings.ăMoreover, excessive application of filtering will degrade image quality.ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3055) What kind of pictures does HKPA want?ăăVirtually all kinds, as long as it is related to Hong Kong. However,ăplease contribute more to the existing subdivided archive rather thanăHKPA.MISC. Pictures which aren't fitted into the existing subdividedăarchive will be put to HKPA.MISC. Please also read the topic specificăfor each subdivided archive for the info of pictures wanted.ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3056) What other picture formats does HKPA accept?ăăOther than GIF, we accept most of the popular picture formats includingăthose which support the giant 16 million color (24-bit). If you haveăproblems converting from a 24-bit color picture file to a 256 coloră(8-bit) GIF file, please feel free to consult with either Thomas Wongă. Please also notify the person-in-charge prior to ăsend the picture file of format other than GIF.ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3057) Can I & how do I organize a new subdivided archive HKPA.***?ăăAs there will be a tendency of more new pictures of other categories,ăHKPA welcome any sincere volunteers to organize and maintain a GIFăcollection of a new category. A new category must be of course,ărelated to Hong Kong.ăăIn general, pictures which aren't fitted into the existing subdividedăarchive HKPA.*** will be put to HKPA.MISC, if the pictures are relatedăto Hong Kong. The chance of a new subdivided archive becomes better asăthe number of pictures of a similar category increases in HKPA.MISC.ăWe'll then call for volunteers to maintain a new subdivided archiveăanyway.ăăPlease contact Thomas Wong for more details. ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3058) What else can I contribute?ăăYes! Any other constructive contributions you can think of for HKPA willăbe greatly appreciated! Another way of becoming our "crew members" is toăhelp us look for new mirror sites for HKPA. We'll help you establish ităbut you'll probably be needed to help us maintain it. It's not a hardătask though.ăăCrew members of HKPA can join in every internal discussions on HKPAămatters. Any other privileges? Please contact Thomas Wong ăfor more details.ăăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3070) TOPICS: MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONSă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3071) Where else can I find a copy of this faq?ăăA copy of this document is also available in /pub/hongkong/hkpa directory,ăof ftp site: asia.lcs.mit.edu [18.52.0.62]. The file is called FAQ.ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3072) What should I know when I access the ftp sites by IP number?ăăNot much. However, the IP number may be changed more frequently than theătext address. If you cannot access the site asia.lcs.mit.eduă[IP no.:18.52.0.62] one day, let us know and we will find out for you.ăăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3140) TOPICS: SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGMENTă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3141) Who are our big brothers?ăăWilliam Ang :ă- system admin of asia.lcs.mit.edu who offers HKPA a perfect environment.ăăKauto Houpio and other GIF admin of nic.funet.fi:ă- GIF admin group of nic.funet.fi who offers us a mirror storage foră HKPA.POPSTARS.ăăJohn Ho :ă- who organizes and maintains the FAQ, initiator of HKPA.SCENIC.ăăSPECIAL THANKS TO all the picture contributors!!ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3142) Who are the crew members of HKPA?ăăThomas Wong :ă- In charge of HKPA.SCENIC & HKPA.POPSTARSăăFran Kan :ă- In charge of HKPA.COMICS & HKPA>MISCăăEddie ? :ă- In charge of HKPA.POPSTARSăăAlan Yim (HO OAI) :ă- Was in charge of HKPA.POPSTARS & HKPA.MISCă- But has left and gone back to Hong Kong hence no more network access.ăăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3150) TOPICS: HKPA.MISC SPECIFIC INFORMATIONă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3151) What kind of pictures are in HKPA.MISC and are wanted?ăăAll kinds of pictures which aren't fitted into other existing subdividedăarchives, as long as it is related to Hong Kong.ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3152) How do I donate pictures to HKPA.MISC?ăăThere are two ways. THE FIRST ONE IS THE BEST!!ăăi) -Uuencode the GIF file and email the uuencoded file to Thomasă Wong .ăă Example:ă uuencode | mail twong@civil.ubc.caăă -Tell Thomas in mail about the picture and the reason why youă want it in HKPA.MISC.ă -Contributors are deserved to have credits. So please specifyă whether your name or alias will be printed on the HKmisc.index.ă If nothing are specified, the default will be the email addressă of the contributor.ăăii) -Contributors can post the pictures to the pictures newsgroups.ă Please read question 3051 for the procedure.ă -Please state clearly in part 0 post what the picture is about.ă -After posting the pictures, please mail Thomas Wong for ă notification of availability.ă -Contributors are deserved to have credits. So please specifyă whether your name or alias will be printed on the HKmisc.index.ă If nothing are specified, the default will be the email addressă of the contributor.ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3153) Can I upload pictures to ftp site myself for HKPA.MISC?ăăNot recommended. However, if you insist on uploading pictures this way,ăplease mail Thomas first with a good reason.ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3154) Are there any other rules I need to know for donations?ăăThe most important rules are already mentioned in this topic. However,ăcontributors must read the complete official rules in the fileăREADME.DONORS as well.ăăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3200) TOPICS: HKPA.POPSTARS SPECIFIC INFORMATIONă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3201) What kind of pictures are in HKPA.POPSTARS and are wanted?ăăAs the name says, the archive has the collection of well known showăbusiness people of Hong Kong. We also collect popstars who born inăcountries other than Hong Kong but their career are mainly based onăHong Kong. Of course they must be well known in Hong Kong too.ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3202) How do I donate pictures to HKPA.POPSTARS?ăăThere are two ways. THE FIRST ONE IS THE BEST!!ăăi) -Contributors will get the full benefit by uuencoding the GIF file andă email the uuencoded file to Thomas Wong .ăă Example:ă uuencode | mail twong@civil.ubc.ca ăă -Please name the GIF file according to the naming convention (seeă question 3203)ă -Contributors are required to mail Thomas a description file, where theă description must contain the name of the popstar(s) in the picture.ă -Contributors are deserved to have credits. So please specifyă whether your name or alias will be printed on the HKstar.index.ă If nothing are specified, the default will be the email addressă of the contributor.ăăii) -Contributors can post the pictures to the pictures newsgroups.ă Please read question 3051 for the procedure.ă -After posting the pictures, please mail Thomas Wong ă for notification of availability.ă -Contributors are deserved to have credits. So please specifyă whether your name or alias will be printed on the HKstar.index.ă If nothing are specified, the default will be the email addressă of the contributor.ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3203) What is the file naming convention for HKPA.POPSTARS?ăăi) 1-star GIF filesă-------------------- ăPeople should take the popstar's English name as first preference such asă ăvchow01.gif (for Vivian Chow)ă ăIn other words, the format is INITIAL + LAST NAME + 2 (or more) DIGITSă ăIf the English name is not known, then useă ăwmchow01.gif (for Chow Wai Man)ă ăIn other words, the format isăINITIAL OF 2ND NAME + INITIAL OF 3RD NAME + LAST NAME + 2 (or more) DIGITSăăNumbering Schemeă^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ăAs only the initials are taken, there may be chances to have 2 or moreăpopstars having the same initial. So the first digit is to distinguishăsuch popstars. The digit ranges from 0 to 9. Say, we have pictures ofăPauline Chan & Priscilla Chan. They will come up the same file name:ăpchan##.gif. In this case, they are distinguished as follow:ăăpchan01.gif pchan02.gif... For Pauline Chanăpchan11.gif pchan12.gif... For Priscilla ChanăăThe second digit (or the one follow) is the count. The order is as follows:ăă1,2,...,9,a0,a1,a2,...,a9,aa,ab,...,az,b0,b1,b2,...,b9,ba,bb,....,zz (last one)ăăii) GIF files with more than 1 stară------------------------------------ ăm1f3-01.gif where m1 == 1 male, f3 == 3 females, which indicates there areă one male and three female popstars in a GIF.ăf2-01.gif where there are 2 female popstars in a GIF.ă ăIf the number of any sex exceeds 9, then stars01.gif will be used.ă ăNumbering Schemeă^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ăThe two digits are used for the count. However, the order is similar toăthe one for 2.1:ăă01,02,...,09,0a,0b,...,0z,10,11,12,...,19,1a,1b,...,1z,.....,9z (last one)ăăThe numbering at the end of each file will be amongst the group of GIFsăof the same type. Such as:ăm1f1-01.gifăm1f1-02.gifăf2-01.gifăf2-02.gifă ăăWhen you submit the picture to Thomas, you don't need to append the digitsăat the end of a filename. We'll work it out for you.ăă(Special thanks to Anthony Wong for the idea ofă this convention)ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3204) What if I don't know the name of the popstar but want to donate?ăăPlease try your best to find out the name of the popstar(s) in the picture.ăIf possible, please check out the English name and correct spelling ofăChinese name from magazines as well. This will certainly reduce ourăworkload and your picture will be processed very efficiently before ităis available to the public.ăăIf you really can't work out, just mail the uuencoded picture to Thomas.ă. He'll then run a "guessing game" to determine theăpopstar name for the description. Please read GUESSING.GAME file ină/pub/hongkong/hkpa/popstars of asia.lcs.mit.edu for details of the guessingăgame.ăăIf you aren't sure whether the name spelling is correct or if you don'tăknow the English name, try you best to work out the words which soundălike the name. Mail Thomas the description with the picture. Then heăwill ask the public to check the name for you. However, like the guessingăgame, it is a slow process.ăăThe pictures to be solved will be put into /pub/hongkong/hkpa/popstars/guessăfor the period from 1 week to a month. Depends on the situation.ăăPlease note that if no one suggest us a name during a guessing game (usuallyălast for a month), the picture will be discarded.ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3205) Can I upload pictures to ftp sites myself for HKPA.POPSTARS?ăăStrictly NO! We'll upload them for you. As we need to verify the popstarănames and the picture, as well as the way to update HKstar.index,ăuploading pictures to ftp sites yourself will complicate our task.ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3206) Are there any other rules I need to know for donations?ăăPlease refer to question 3154.ăăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3250) TOPICS: HKPA.SCENIC SPECIFIC INFORMATIONă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3251) What kind of pictures are in HKPA.SCENIC and are wanted?ăăAs the name says, the archive has the collection of scenic picturesăof Hong Kong. From landscapes to buildings. In particular, picturesăof beautiful architecture (both interior and exterior) are wanted.ăOf course the pictures must be taken in Hong Kong.ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3252) How do I donate pictures to HKPA.SCENIC?ăă-Uuencode the GIF file and email the uuencoded file to Thomasă Wong .ăă Example:ă uuencode | mail twong@civil.ubc.caăă-Please name the GIF file according to the naming convention (seeă question 3253).ă-Tell Thomas in mail about the picture in terms of what districtă it was taken, and other info about the scene.ă-Contributors are deserved to have credits. So please specifyă whether your name or alias will be printed on the HKscenic.index.ă If nothing are specified, the default will be the email addressă of the contributor.ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3253) What is the file naming convention for HKPA.SCENIC?ăăWe have a naming convention for the GIF picture filenames for ăHKscenic files. Pictures are separated into three categories:ăHong Kong Island, Kowloon and New Territory. The year of the ăpicture is also attached to the filename to indicate the timeăof this picture. Then a counter is tagged onto the end which is ăincremented as the number of files grow. The basic syntax isăas shown below where YYYY is for the year and [a-z] is theăletter that I will tag on as the archive grows. ă ăFilename syntax:ă ă HK Island, use hkYYYY[a-z].gifă Kowloon, use kwYYYY[a-z].gifă New Territory, use ntYYYY[a-z].gifăăFor the files which you don't know the exact year, you canăround it off. For example, if you know a picture was takenăin the 90's you can just use 1990 for the year. That shouldăbe close enough. Or if you can be more exact, for example,ăuse 1990 for early 90's and 1995 for late 90's. That's fineătoo.ăăWhen you send the picture to Thomas, you don't need to append theăletter [a-z] after the year in the filename. He'll work that outăfor you.ăă(Special thanks to John Ho for the idea of convention)ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3254) Can I upload pictures to ftp site myself for HKPA.SCENIC?ăăNot recommended. However, if you insist on uploading pictures this way,ăplease mail Thomas first with a good reason.ăă-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ă3255) Are there any other rules I need to know for donations?ăăPlease refer to question 3154.ăă----------------------------------END-OF-FAQ-----------------------------------ăăă-- ăJohn Ho from Dallas, Texas, USA. (john@jho.com) ă-- ăJohn Ho from Dallas, Texas, USA. (john@jho.com) ă